Body boards have become very popular for body surfing or floating where the rider lays or sits on the board. A typical body board comprises a panel of foam plastic which may be somewhat resilient and flexible. It is common practice to utilize a leash which is connected to the leg or ankle of the rider and to the body board. The purpose of the leash is to prevent the rider from losing the body board in the event of a fall. Connectors or "leash anchors" have been developed which are adapted to secure the leash cord to a body board. One such leash anchor is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,615, Robert B. Nealy, granted May 1981. An improved anchor having a flat head which does not extend above the surfaces of the board is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,483, Robert B. Nealy, granted Aug. 11, 1992.
Leash anchors of the type disclosed in the above mentioned patents, generally comprise a male and a female coupler which extend from opposite surfaces of the board through a through-running passage in the board. The couplers have enlarged heads which clamp against their respective surfaces of the board to secure the connector in place. In some designs, the component of the leash connector on the upper surface of the board is provided with a raised tab having an opening through which the end of the leash cord is extended and looped back on itself to secure the cord to the connector. This design is undesirable, however, because the tab, which extends above the surface of the board, can pose a potential source of injury to the rider.
In the improved connector design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,615, the extended tab is eliminated and a passage is molded into the head of one of the couplers through which the end of the leash cord is passed and brought back on itself to form a loop. Connectors of this design require more complicated tooling and consequently are more difficult and more expensive to manufacture.
The connector design defined in U.S. Pat. No. 35,137,483 provides a center bore in the female coupler and an intersecting opening through the body of the coupler located just beneath the enlarged head portion. In this manner the cord is inserted through the center bore then out through the intersecting opening, passed around the body of the coupler and back up through the intersecting opening and out through the center bore to provide a loop around the body of the coupler to secure the leash thereto. Although somewhat easier to manufacture, this design often times required the use of a rod or a similar tool to feed the leash cord through the center bore and intersecting opening. In addition, it is often necessary to substantially uncouple the connector components in order to secure the leash to the connector.